David Bowie’s cover of Pink Floyd’s See Emily Play is very, very weird. It sounds like what PF’s version might have been if they recorded it when Syd Barrett was more far gone.
I like Arab Strap’s cover
Submitted for your consideration:
Rod Stewart’s “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy,” as covered by the Revolting Cocks.
“The Theme from Rawhide,” by the Dead Kennedys. The song actually begins at about the 1:30 mark.
The Moog Cookbook have got a lot of instrumental covers of modern songs done in a variety of styles with analog synthesizers:
I wish there were some other ones available, but these guys are great–there’s a wonderful tongue-in-cheekiness, but the music isn’t completely throwaway laughs–the synthesis and arrangements are actually quite interesting and musical, building and morphing verse after verse.
I’ve got this remarkable album by Hayseed Dixie. Here’s a sample video. The video is crap, but the cover is awesome.
There were any number of punk covers, some truely bizare. Many only performed live.
However, the most bizare off the top of my head is Albert King’s blues classic “crosscut saw” as performed by the sierra altoids. To truely appreciate this, the lyrics of Crosscut Saw go something like:
I’m a crosscut saw, baby let me drag you 'cross my log."
And the lead instrument on the Sierra Altoids version is a running chainsaw being “played” to the original beat. Awesome and sigh probably lost to mankind but for a 45 sitting forgotten on a shelf in radio station KDVS
This was painful.
“Oops (I Did It Again)” by Louis Armstrong*
“Baby Got Back” by Jonathan Coulton
*(Yes, yes, it is a joke. Spears doesn’t have the brains to steal from anyone that good.)
I submit from the “good” cover version thread, the Scissor Sisters doing Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb.
One of the most powerful and emotive rock tracks of all time, with IMO the most heart-wrenching guitar solo ever committed to vinyl, turned into a brainless bubblegum-pop disco song. Hilarious!
Wow. I had assumed that link would go to Dread Zeppelin. Imagine Led Zepp tunes reimagined by a reggae band with Elvis at the mic. Fun and kitschy in a Las Vegas kind of way, and pretty bizarre.
But Rolf Harris…whoa.
That felt chopped to me. I’d love to see the original recording.
If you want to see this song performed solo, one-man-band style, check out Trace Bundy’s version.
As far as I know, that is the original version. Like I said, it’s not meant to be a cover as much as a parody. I’ll have a look to see if I can find a longer version, though.
Yay! 50-something posts and I get to be the first to mention Sebastian Cabot, Actor/Bob Dylan, Poet! This record is bizarre on SO many levels, you have to ask yourself what were they thinking??
Actually, there have been two mentions of Sebastian Cabot’s Dylan cover above, referring to the excerpts from the Golden Throats albums.
Nouvelle Vague does a version of Too Drunk to Fuck by the Dead Kennedys that’s always made my list of weird covers.
Also, speaking of Hotel California, Gipsy Kings do an acoustic version in spanish that’s arguably better than the original.
Well, it’s been so long that we don’t even remember how bizarre it was, but Devo’s covers of “Satisfaction” and “Are You Experienced?” used to be highly bizarre. Now they’re kinda mainstream. And that’s bizarre.
I don’t have a link to it, because it’s only on a couple CD singles, but Rammstein’s cover of Pet Sematary is bizarre bordering on terrible. I love them to death, but that cover reminds me of the Tanto and Frankenstien Wish You A Merry Christmas on SNL.
Laibach’s versions of *Jesus Christ Superstar *and *Let It Be *
**The Guitar Wolf **doing Link Wray’s *Rumble *